Salvage Title vs Lemon Law Buyback

[Simon]

Hey Guys!

I'm in the market for a B5 S4 Avant, Stage 3 or Stage 2. I found one that is a Lemon Law Buyback. What's the difference between Lemon Law Buyback and Salvage Title? What's worse? Thanks!

Simon

[Stubek]

Lemon law means there was something the dealer could not fix after several tries while under warranty. Salvage means the car was declared totaled by an insurance company after an accident or flood and was then possibly repaired.

[ChrisGS4]

A salvage title car is one that was damaged in some way and the insurer decided that the car was financially not worth fixing. The car was then fixed after purchasing it from the insurance company and titled for use. A lemon law buy back car is one that the dealer was forced to buy back after being un able to fix a problem I believe 3 times on the same problem. The car was then finally fixed hopefully and resold.

The b5 cars are old enough that I would assume any car subject to lemon law would have the issues resolved by now.

You should be able to negotiate pretty aggresively on price using the argument of lower resale if you decide to sell later on.
It might be worth checking carfax or autocheck to see if it says what the buyback issue was.

[infinkc]

i would say a lemon would be better only if you can see why it was a lemon in the first place. Salvage i would stay away from unless you know the person that is selling it.

[Simon]

Thanks for the info guys! How many B5 S4s would you think is a Lemon Law Buyback? I bought my B5 S4 through a friend of a friend, and it turned out to be one. I didn't find out until my registration came in. Now I'm in the market for an Avant and found another lemon.

[99blueb5]

Thanks for the info guys! How many B5 S4s would you think is a Lemon Law Buyback? I bought my B5 S4 through a friend of a friend, and it turned out to be one. I didn't find out until my registration came in. Now I'm in the market for an Avant and found another lemon.

i highly doubt there is a bunch of the lemon law s4's out there. i work at a dealership( not a vw or audi) and over the course of about 5 years we have had 2 lemon law buybacks, one was a used certified car that had a transmission shudder and we couldnt duplicate it and the buyer wanted the tranny replaced so we worked a deal out with the buyer so he could get his money back and use it towards another car. and the other was that the car was previously damaged and had bent suspension parts and after replacing pretty much everything the car still had excessive camber in the rear, so that was a buyback

[infinkc]

pm me the vin, i can see if it has any info related to why its a lemon.

[Zephyr7]

Before owning my S4 I had a Benz C32 AMG for less than a month. The AMG had a bad torque converter/tranny (even to this day it is still unconfirmed) and rather than the small dealership fix it on their bill, they gave me a full refund and the amount of my trade in (lemon-law). It was an awkward situation and I wasn't considerably upset considering I got my money back. Not only that, but a few days later I found the S, and, quite honestly, have been thankful since then! In the end, the "lemon-law" can take on many different faces. Just know what you are getting in to.

[Scotty@Advanced]

Like anything a proper inspection and test drive will tell you if the lemon is truly a lemon. Many Lemons are out there due to the incompetence of the dealer performing the work. Also Lemon laws require the manufacturer to buy back the vehicle, not the dealer.

Same goes with salvage titles. I wouldn't not buy a salvage title vehicle without a proper inspection and make adjustments to the price due to the title brand. With the ever decreasing worth of the B5 S4, a tire separation can result in enough damage to total a vehicle, but just like everything do your diligence with the purchase.

[AWDLAUNCH]

My S4 is a salvage car. I would buy it again if I had to. Buying salvage is a great way to save money. Just make sure the car was
Fixed right.


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